kadorto blog by bandarji: Jodhpur, The Blue City

On NH 65 heading to Jodhpur

The Blue City

Jodhpur is known by many names: Sun City, Gateway to Thar and Brahmpuri are only some. Its most well-known moniker is The Blue City. Many of the houses to the north of Mehrangarh Fort are painted blue. The reason for the homes' color varies with the person you ask. Here are some of the reasons I have heard or read:

Brahmins are the religious leaders and skin of the gods is usually blue in color
The color discourages mosquitoes from entering the city
Chemicals to block termites tinted the originally white paint
This marked religious homes during the Jaipur-Jodhpur war, keeping inhabitants safe
Brahmins marked their homes to show themselves superior to neighbors
The color keeps the home cool

Whatever the reason, it was an interesting sight, looking down from Mehrangarh Fort.

View of The Blue City from Mehrangarh Fort

Mehrangarh Fort

Architecture at Mehrangarh Fort

A rough English translation of mehrangarh is "sun fort"; fitting for a city known as Sun City. This fort was constructed in the fifteenth century and is one of India's largest.

Clock Tower Market

The market stays busy, regardless of the time of day

Nothing much to say here. Clock Tower Market is a market with a clock tower in the center. It was a chaotic place.

Market food

Fruit beer?

Umaid Bhawan Palace

The Jodhpur royal family still resides at this 300+ room Taj hotel

We stopped for lunch at Umaid Bhawan Palace. There is a cover charge for entry to the grounds of Rs 3,000 each, but you get to deduct lunch from that amount. Or, as it turns out, your lunch will likely cost more than the cover charge. In other words, we had an expensive lunch at the palace. The grounds and lunch were nice, though.

Anjali catches up on phone calls

That would have been a great lunch spot

Kids at the Cattle Fair

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Asop, India, is between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, if you get lost. We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up going through this small town. The area was about to start a twenty-day cattle fair. We got out to stretch our legs and snap some photos, mostly of the local kids. Local is probably not accurate though, since many people travel from other regions for this event.